Supporting Sweetleaf Collective

It’s been quite a while since Built on Respect got behind a specific campaign. Built on Respect was started to embrace DIY activism — one person working hard to help others; the unsung heroes — the individuals who say, “Something’s broken, and I want to try to fix that.”

Last year, I had the pleasure of meeting ‘Sweetleaf’ Joe. I immediately liked Joe, he’s been working to bring plant-based medicine to patients in need in the Bay Area since 1996 — and his collective is the first, and longest continuously-operating collective in San Francisco.

Joe works to get terminally-ill HIV/AIDS and cancer patients free, plant-based medicine. That alone to me is incredible. As we talked more, we bonded over our shared love of punk music, and DIY activism. I discovered he has been a life-long activist — working both in his local community, as well as overseas.

Needless to say, I began to reach out to different friends and ask how they might be able to donate some of their company’s services to Joe’s efforts, and I also decided to begin to do want Built on Respect was built for — reach out to musicians and friends, and ask them to help share a message and raise awareness to support one incredible unsung hero’s work.

You can learn more about Joe below. Build on Respect is accepting donations to benefit his collective program — and of course, 100% of those donations go to Sweetleaf. I also encourage you to follow Sweetleaf on Instagram.

Joe Airone is the founder and director of the Sweetleaf Collective. He has been an activist in the Bay Area for more than 20 years, working with groups providing food to the elderly, shelter to the homeless, and plant medicine to low income terminally ill people. He ran a community art center in San Francisco’s Mission District for 5 years, creating a forum for artists, musicians, and performers to practice and show their art free of charge. Joe also founded the Humanitarian Circus and has traveled all over the world making free circus shows for refugees and orphans in war zones and developing countries. His last mission was to the island of Lesbos where he performed for Syrian refugee children after they had made the harrowing journey from Turkey to Greece.

I am hoping that we can come together and you will consider making a donation between $1.50-$5.00 to help support his work. You can use the button below to donate, and these funds are earmarked 100% for Sweetleaf.